Cassava or Yuca or Cassava
Cassava belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, Genus Manihot, Species esculenta; the binomial nomenclature of Cassava (also called yuca or cassava) is Manihot esculenta.
It is a tuber similar to a potato, but even more similar to a tuberous root (such as batata, commonly known as sweet potato or American potato).
Cassava is an "important food source for those who populate its areas of origin, or" Central America "; today, thanks to the considerable profitability and the scarce cultivation needs, the yuca is also widely diffused in the African continent and in Asia.
Cassava can be consumed in different ways but is mostly cooked. By virtue of its chemical characteristics, flour and starch (or better, starch) are also produced with the tuber, thin and white or yellow in color.
ATTENTION! There is no single type of yuca; there are some varieties, called "bitter", containing some toxic principles (manihotoxin, thermolabile); these plants, to be made edible, require intermediate steps of processing or cooking.
Traditional recipes based on cassava are puree and frying, but it is also inserted in mixed preparations, bread-making such as flour or pearls (NOT leavened) etc.
At an industrial level, cassava flour is used as a thickener and for the production of glucose, ethyl alcohol and beer.
Tapioca
Although it is often used as a synonym for the plant or flour or starch, tapioca is a very distinct product. It is in fact the result of a particular process, which uses moist starch as a starting point; subsequently, the latter is left to dry and shaken regularly to maintain the granular shape of the agglomerates; therefore, it is a starch and not a flour.
Tapioca is certainly the most refined product of all cassava derivatives.
Pudding with Tapioca Pearls - Vanilla Tapioca Pudding
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Cassava Flour, Tapioca, Yuca, Cassava
Cassava flour is obtained by grinding the tuberous root of Manihot esculenta, sweet variety.
While for the potato the terms "flour" and "starch" are synonymous (since they indicate the same product), in the case of yuca this is not the case. The flour is in fact obtained from the grinding, while the starch from the deposit of the starch contained in the washing liquid of the flour dough. The misunderstanding arises from the fact that, in most of the globe, only starch is marketed for cassava ( commonly known as tapioca flour).
Below we will list the nutritional properties of commercially available cassava flour. First of all, the energy content is quite high but still lower than the classic wheat flour. Chemically speaking, commercial cassava flour consists mainly of starch and comes much closer to potato starch than to cereal flour. It provides only small amounts of fibers, lipids and proteins; It does NOT contain gluten and as such it lends itself to the diet of celiacs (gluten-free). ATTENTION! The fact that cassava flour originally does not contain gluten does not automatically mean that it is completely gluten-free; in fact, if it is produced or packaged in promiscuous establishments, it can be contaminated and become inappropriate for nutrition for celiac disease.
With regard to mineral salts, small amounts of calcium and phosphorus are found. By itself, yuca flour cannot be considered a food with additional functions to the energy one, so much so that a "diet based mainly on its consumption determines marked nutritional deficiencies.
Now, let's try to better understand the differences between flour and cassava starch:
- Yuca flour: water 10-14%, nitrogenous substances 1-2%, starchy substances 80-85%, fatty substances 0.2-0.4%, cellulose up to 1.5-3% and ash 1%.
- Cassava starch: water 13%, nitrogenous substances 1%, starch substances 85%, fatty substances 0.2%, cellulose 0.4%, ash 0.4%.
In practice, starch contains less nitrogenous substances, cellulose and ash than flour.
For further information: How to prepare cassava chips, the video recipe
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